After the success of their Gift Shop and Catering on the Jacobite Steam Train - famously known as the Hogwarts Express - the pair have decided to branch out to Mallaig to offer fans something truly magical.

Maria, 32, first started the shop on the Jacobite Steam Train four years ago - and since then her love for all things Potter has only grown.

She said: "I kind of missed the era when Harry Potter first came out, but I fell in love with it when I started working on the Jacobite train about three or four year ago.

"It was completely by chance, I helped out a bit with the trolley service and then it became there that there would be a contract available. So we came together with this business plan and showed it to West Coast Railways and they accepted our proposal.

"The gentleman who ran the merchandise shop retired and then he passed it on to me. We try to balance out the steam train memorabilia with the Harry Potter stuff."

She added: "It’s only really recently that shop has gone crazy with Harry Potter fans. I think it’s cause that first generation are old enough to travel now. Fans are coming from all over the world to see this."

The Jacobite Steam Train has proved a popular attraction - allowing fans to travel over the Harry Potter bridge, see the Dark Lake and Dumbledore's final resting place from The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

For the last two years, Maria and husband Scott, 38, have been offering a variety of Potter themed snacks and items for passengers on the train. From cocktails fashioned as potions to chocolate frogs to magical memorabilia - the shop has proved a hit with fans.

But Maria revealed the decision to expand out came as the couple found them limited on what they could offer on the train.

Maria said: "In my first year working on the train, it was difficult because we had people asking us for clothing and other things and it’s not possible to have all these nice things on a train due to cleanliness. So we were really limited as to what we could offer fans.

"Over the last two years we’ve been looking for somewhere in Mallaig, and we finally found it. I don’t think we could have got a better place.

"I wanted to give people an extra bit of experience. There’s a only a little bit of Harry Potter in Mallaig and not a lot for fans to see.

"I know what it feels like to go into a general Harry Potter shop and one that’s in Universal Orlando, and they’re completely different. We want to steer away from the general Harry Potter shops and make it more fun."

The shop will be based in the Old Police Station in Mallaig and will be packed full of magical fun for fans wishing to travel to 'Hogwarts'.

Maria said: "We've spent a while collecting antiques so that it feels like you're really in Harry Potter.

"We’re quite lucky because a lot of the fans will be on the train before they reach Mallaig so that’s a bonus.

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"I’m quite an arty, theatre-type person and I love to make things magical for people and teach spells.

"I always say to staff that every day is like Disneyland, fans are here for the experience. We have to be proud of what we can offer."

She added: "We’re going to have a wide range of clothes for all houses, we won’t just be catering to Gryffindors. We’ll also have Harry Potter books, mostly illustrated ones, as well as jewellery and artwork.

"We’re hoping to offer exclusive Harry Potter products and keep a good balance between the train and the shop."

Hagrd Alley opens March 30.

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